cherries

I’m thinking of doing a series of small video readings, just for fun, from my book Gods of Water and Air. And maybe I should put it to a vote: which poems would be best to read? Here’s one I’m considering.Thoughts? Advice?

Life

I had a beautiful bowl of cherries

to paint, stems perfectly arranged, the jade

bowl offsetting the pale red fruit.

I ate them. Such is the fate

of so much art. But only the serious kind.

At least this artist won’t starve.

Looking at a half bowl of cherries

I still want to create. Maybe a painting

of the pits in another bowl, so much life

gone by. Or perhaps a poem about the greed

of the painter for sensuous delight, story

of artists and their models through the ages

and also the story of the art

that was never made

while they became their own

works of art. Jade bowl. Stems.

Hungers ripe and aching.

Summer’s half moon warmth.

Tender flesh. (Note to self:

They were so ripe and cold.

Put cherries on the grocery list.

The dark ones this time.)

Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.